Google launches Dead Sea Scrolls library

Israeli authorities say they have put 5,000 fragments of the ancient Dead Sea Scrolls online in a partnership with Google, reports the Associated Press.

The digital library launched on Dec. 18, with important texts like the Book of Deuteronomy, which includes the Ten Commandments, and a portion of the first chapter of the Book of Genesis, dated to the first century B.C.

It is part of a broader attempt by the custodians of the celebrated manuscripts—who once were criticized for allowing them to be monopolized by small circles of scholars—to make them broadly available…